Fallen
by Daisyfan5534
Summary: The bridge incident went a completely different way, putting both Luke and Clementine at risk. Brotp One-shot.


**A/N: While writing chapter 12 of It Just Happened, I** **realized that it was going to be a lot shorter than the other chapters. So I thought I'd upload this one-shot to help fill the void. Note how I said _one-shot_ , meaning this is only a one chapter story. Chapter 12 will be out soon, hopefully in the next week or two, so enjoy this in the meantime.**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own the Walking Dead Game**

Fallen

Daisyfan5534

One-Shot

* * *

Three walkers. Two in front of them and one coming up from behind. Luke and Clementine were surrounded, but they could take them.

Luke walked on the old wood of the tracks on the bridge, pulling out his machete as he headed towards the walker behind him. However the wood broke from under his feet, sending him to the rafters below with the walker. Thankfully the walker pierced himself with a bar, so he couldn't reach Luke, but unfortunately Luke was stuck as well, in between the rafters.

Clementine tried to reach for him, but her arms were too small and she had to deal with two more walkers. She stood up with her hammer in hand before running up to the oncoming walker, stepping on the tracks as she did so. Clem hit the walker in the head, but it wasn't enough to kill it.

The walker lunged at her, sending her back a couple steps as she swung her weapon into the walker's jaw.

Clementine felt the wood crack underneath her, causing her to take another step back as she pulled on the hammer.

The walker's jaw flew off, but the added force caused the planks to snap underneath Clementine, sending her backwards into the hole Luke fell in.

She collided with Luke, causing him to lose his footing. He quickly grabbed Clementine's arm before she plummeted to the water, leaving him holding onto the rafter for dear life with one hand.

The walker Clem tried to kill earlier slowly walked to the hole. It fell in, just missing both of them as it fell past them.

"Clem! Climb up!" Luke yelled.

Clementine looked at him, then down at the water, then back at him.

"Just drop me!" She yelled back.

"What?!" He responded.

The third walker fell in the hole, again missing them as it fell towards the water.

"Drop me! I'll be fine!" She insisted.

"I'm not going to fucking drop you!" He told her.

"Save yourself, Luke! I can swim!"

"I'm not letting you go!"

His grip was slipping from the rafter, he had to do something fast, but letting go of Clementine was out of the question.

Clem released her grip on Luke's arm, forcing him to tighten his grip on her. "You have a group to take care of!" Clementine pointed out.

"And you're part of that group!" Luke added.

"But they need you!" Clementine yelled. "Luke, please!"

Luke felt his hand slip even more from the rafter and he could feel Clementine's wrist starting to slip through his other one. He looked up at the rafter then back down at the kid.

"Do you trust me?!" He asked.

Clementine looked at him, wondering what he meant, but she quickly nodded, anyway.

Luke took a deep breath before looking up at his hand then he released his slipping grip, letting gravity pull them both down towards the water. He pulled Clementine to him and wrapped his arms around her, making sure they stay in a vertical position as they continued to fall.

The two were soon met with the oddly burning sensation of the cold water hitting their bodies. Luke let go of Clementine, letting her swim to the surface along with him.

"CLEM?!" he called after he surfaced.

"LUKE!" she yelled back, coughing up water from the current constantly splashing her.

Luke swam over to the child, the harsh current splashing them as it drags them down stream.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked.

"Why'd you-" Clementine was cut off by the water splashing her face, getting into her lungs, forcing her to cough.

"Just stick close to me, okay?!" Luke responded as he spat water out of his mouth.

"Luke!" Clementine motioned to a rock sticking out in the middle of the river and the current was pushing them towards it, fast.

Luke noticed the rock, realising there's not enough time to get himself and Clem out of the way. He turned his back towards the rock as he pulled Clementine to his chest to lessen the blow on her when their bodies finally collided with the rock. The force of the current slamming them against the rock knocked Luke unconscious.

* * *

The sun was aligned in the perfect spot to pierce Luke's closed eyes with a blinding light. There were no branches or trees blocking the rays, just a clear path of light that woke him from unconsciousness.

Luke grunted, pushing himself off of the rocky shore. He could feel his head pulsate and his back ache as he shifted to a sitting position, his clothes still drenched from the water. Luke looked around, seeing that the river currents died down and that the sun was starting to set. The high cliffs that surrounded the river were completely leveled down so they weren't stuck down there, but he couldn't see the bridge… At all.

He left the map with the group, so he couldn't pinpoint where they were or how far they traveled down stream… They… Clem!

A rush of panic went through his body, but soon left seeing Clementine passed out right next to him.

"Clem?" Luke reached over to the child before shaking her. The kid was still soaked, too. "Hey, wake up."

Clementine squeezed her eyes tighter before slowly opening them. It took her a minute to regain her focus and in that time, Luke managed to stand up. He held out a hand to her, wanting to help her up, and she accepted it.

"Hey, you okay?" Luke asked once she was on her feet.

Clementine didn't respond, instead her tiny hand curled into a fist and punched Luke's arm. "You peice of shit!" she yelled.

"Ow! What was that for?" he responded, rubbing his arm. There was definitely going to be a bruise there tomorrow.

"Why didn't you let go?" Clementine asked.

"I did let go, that's why we're here."

"No, of me! Why didn't you let go of me?"

"Clem, I wasn't going to let you fall to your death."

"I didn't die!"

"You could have!"

"And you could have, too!" Clementine yelled back at him, shoving him with all her strength, though it only pushed him a few steps back. "You should have saved yourself!"

"I was barely hanging on! Even if you weren't with me, I still probably would have fallen!" Luke told her.

"But you had Nick, and the others! You had something to lose! I don't!"

Luke opened his mouth, but quickly shut it. He saw that Clementine was still boiling in anger, but he could tell that she was holding back. The look on her face seemed like she wished she bit her tongue at the last comment. She was scared, upset, and so used to being alone. At the end of the day, she's still a kid… She's just a kid.

"How about protection, people who care, a group that accepts you?" Luke started as he bent down to her height. "Food, someone to keep watch while you sleep, or medical supplies in case you get hurt?"

Luke watched Clementine try and recoil herself, doing everything she can to not show emotion.

"A shoulder to cry on." he continued. "Because it's not good for people to keep it all in, especially if they're eleven and been through absolute hell."

She's trying not to cry, but even children who've harden into a survivor in this harsh world have their breaking points. And for once, she's not alone. Sure Christa was with her for a long period of time, but after Omid died, the woman practically stopped caring for her. But Luke was here for her and he's already risked his life twice to make sure she was safe, and he's here for her now.

"Clem, when was the last time you cried?" he asked in concern. If she's doing everything she can to hold back, then she truly is hurting.

And just like that, she cracked. Clementine let out a sob, doing her best to hold the rest in. Luke couldn't stand to see her like that, she needed a shoulder to cry on. Thankfully, he had two.

Luke pulled the child to him. He seemed to be doing that a lot today, but this time it was for her to let her emotions free. She buried her face in Luke's shoulder as they wrapped their arms around each other, shaking off the uncomfortable feeling of the warm and wet hug. Clementine let go of her flood gates and Luke just held her. She forgot how nice it felt; to be hugged, for someone to not judge her for her past, and yet understood that she's just as scared as everyone else.

"See? It's okay to cry." Luke assured her.

"Just shut up, Luke!" she muttered in his shirt.

"I'm here for you, you know?" he said to her.

"You're an asshole! You're a fucking asshole!" Clementine sobbed. She really didn't like crying, and Luke made her.

Luke chuckled. "I'm glad you're okay, too."

After a while, Clementine began to calm down. Luke pulled her slightly away to cup her cheek, using his thumb to wipe away the tears streaming down her face. "You alright?" he asked.

Clementine nodded wiping the other side of her face. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Feel better?"

Clementine sighed as she nodded again.

"Alright, let's get moving then." Luke said as he jerked his head to the woods. "This asshole needs a badass kid to help him build a fire."

* * *

The night had fallen, stars were poking out from behind the clouds. Clementine was in her own world, looking up at the small lights as she thought over the events of today. She _wanted_ Luke to drop her, and instead he lets them both fall. Then he puts himself in front of a rock to make sure that the force of the blow didn't knock her unconscious. After Luke was knocked out, she did everything she could to keep him above water. Clementine didn't know how long they got dragged down stream, but she managed to find a shore and was able to drag him there. Once they were safe, she passed out from exhaustion.

Then Luke made her cry. It wasn't on purpose, but with all the stress and the near death situations today, it was well needed.

"What do you think, kid?"

"Huh?" Clementine drew her attention back to Luke who was poking the fire with a stick.

Luke smirked. "You didn't hear a word I said, did you?"

"No." She responded waving some of the ashes out of her face.

"Well to recap, I said that Nick and the others are probably looking for us." Luke explained.

"Oh, yeah… Probably." Clementine pulled her knees in, wrapping her arms around them to preserve heat.

"If they're following the river downstream, then we'll eventually run into to them if we follow it upstream. Most likely tomorrow."

"What if they think we drowned and they moved on?"

"Then they're probably staying in the lodge we saw earlier, but I know Nick wouldn't give up searching for us."

"And Carver?"

"I- I don't know, kid." He couldn't lie to her. "I'm sure Carver's main concern is Rebecca, with the baby and all. I don't think he'd come for us. We just have to be on the lookout tomorrow."

"What if he's already captured them?"

"If it comes to that, then we'll try to save them. Hopefully, he gave up, but-"

"Is he the father?"

Luke stared at Clementine for a minute, wondering if she knew how a baby was made, but he'd thought it'd be best not to ask. Just in case she doesn't know and becomes curious about it.

"He thinks he is."

"And that's why he's after you guys?"

"Yeah, pretty much. I mean, the guy's an asshole and he's practically insane, but hell, I'd walk forever if it meant I got my family back." Luke explained. "Or what I thought was my family; like I said, Carver is losing it, and that's why we escaped."

"We're all losing it." Clementine said blankly.

Luke sighed, poking the fire again with the stick to keep it going. "It's really hard to hear this kind of stuff from you. You're not even a teenager, yet you've probably seen a lot more than any person should have. Not to mention you're probably smarter than any bandit out there. You've got your head on straight, too."

Clementine took those words to heart. Luke wasn't saying that to be nice, he said it as if it were a fact. Who knows, maybe it was at this point.

"But I guess you're right. I _did_ assume you were bit, my group and I _did_ lock you in a shed, and I _did_ let go of the rafter, putting us both at risk. Maybe I am going crazy, I don't know, I just couldn't stand the thought of you being alone again." Luke admitted.

Clementine closed her eyes for a minute before looking back at him. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For calling you an asshole… and a peice of shit."

"It's okay, Clem. But I deserved the asshole part since the day I met you, plus I did make you cry, today."

"It's fine, Luke. I- I didn't know how much I needed it." Clementine said.

Luke smiled slightly at that. He noticed that she was a bit more relaxed and open after she broke down. She wasn't as tense as she was, and she almost seemed like an actual kid. He should probably enjoy this while it lasts, because he knows that her walls were going to be back up tomorrow.

"Luke?"

"Yeah, Clem?"

"The reason why I was so mad at you was because I almost got you killed." Clementine told him. "No matter how hard I tried to save you, to convince you to let me go, you risked your life to save mine. I've just seen so many people die because of me… And I didn't want that to happen to you, too."

"So you didn't want any more survivor's guilt?" Luke asked, trying to understand what she's saying.

"Yeah…"

"I know it sucks, but you can't let it consume you. Otherwise that's going to get you killed. That's why it's good to let it out once in awhile."

Luke stretched his arms out and tried to straighten his back to see if it still hurt, which it did, as he let out a yawn. "Alright, kid. You better get some shut eye. I'll take watch."

"Luke, you saved my life. I'll take watch." Clementine responded.

"I'm not eleven." Luke pointed out.

"I don't have a bad back." Clementine added.

"My back isn't bad, it just hurts like hell after it got slammed into a rock."

"Whatever, just go to sleep."

"You're the one who's supposed to sleep.

"You know what?" Clementine got up on her knees and held her palm out in front of her, placing her fist in it.

"Alright, fine. We'll rock, paper, scissors for it." Luke responded, holding out his fist in his palm as well.

The two of them stood up and got closer so it was easier for them to play. Who would have thought that arguing over who got to take watch would end up in a game of rock, paper, scissors. Luke was playing against a kid, so it wasn't like he could blame her.

"Wait!" Luke said before they got into their game. "Rock, paper, scissors or rock, paper, scissors, shoot?"

"Rock, paper, scissors. Who says shoot?" Clementine responded.

"Normal people. Why would you go on scissors?" Luke said.

Clementine shot him an annoyed glare.

"Fine, we'll go on scissors." Luke told her. "Come on, best two out of three."

The game didn't last long; Clementine won two times in a row and Luke was bit annoyed that he got beat by a kid.

"I take watch." Clementine said with confidence.

"Whatever, you little cheater." Luke said as he sat down, taking his gun out of its holster and giving it to Clem. "Here. It's the only weapon we got."

Clementine took the gun in her hand as she sat down next to him, getting a feel of it since it was a bit different than the guns she's used to.

"If you get tired, you can wake me up and I'll take over." Luke told her as he laid down.

"Okay." Clementine responded. "Luke?"

"Yeah, kid?"

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Luke closed his eyes, satisfied that everything is settled between him and Clementine. He was right; it's a tough world out there without people you can trust. Clem didn't realise how important that sentence was until now. She glanced over at Luke who was sound asleep, knowing that he trusts her to keep them safe while he slept and she'd think the same about Luke if he was taking watch.

Clementine looked back to the fire, a faint smile spreading across her face, remembering that the last time she smiled like that was with Lee. She was smiling because for once, she didn't feel like she was alone.

For once, she _wasn't_ alone.


End file.
